1) Are collagen fibers flexible, or are they rather immovable. The reason I am asking this is because my textbook says that "Collagen fibers are very strong and resist pulling forces, but they are not stiff, which allows tissues flexibility."However, my notes say "Collagen fibers are resistant to stretching." Don't these two quotes contradict each other? Or are they two separate things?

2) Do collagen fibers have the same function as reticular fibers?

3) Do "blasts" become "cytes" when the blasts become "trapped" or when the extracellular matrix is done forming?

4) Lastly do we say that macrophages "wander" the tissue because they migrate freely in the extracellular matrix?

1.) Collagen fibers are in fact overlapping fibers that are resistant to being pulled awayed from one another. That is what they mean by resistant to stretching. They are resistant to having fibers pulled apart. They are flexible in the sense that they can be bent, turned, and rotated unlike a stiff firm bone.